Australian Muscle Car – July 01, 2019

heonethatgotaway

T

he long-awaited unveiling
of the Moffat Mazda was
a glamorous black-tie affair at
Melbourne’s Hilton Hotel on
1 September 1981, and the
car looked resplendent in its
PeterStuyvesantInternational
cigarettecolours,which
convenientlymatchedMazda’s
blueandwhite.
Tobaccosponsorshipwasat
itspeakandMoffat,havinglost
hisCamelbacking,hadgone
to Rothmansfora deal.Hefortuitouslyfound
himselfpresentingto a SouthAfricanexecutive
whowasmostimpressedwhenMoffatspoke
Afrikaans,rememberingsomeof hisschoolboy
languageskills.“Sometimes,”hewrotein his
recentautobiography,ClimbingtheMountain,
“goodluckjusthitsyouin theface.”
Outonthetracktwoweekslater,thenewcar
didn’tlookquitesoimpressive,qualifying14thfor
theSandown400,some4.7secondsslowerthan
polemanDickJohnson’sFalcon,andnishing
sixth,fourlapsdownonwinnerPeterBrock’s
Commodore.It wasnotanauspiciousstart.
Thingswentmuchbetterat Bathurst,though.
Moffatmadethemostof inclementweather
in qualifyingto startfthandthendrovethe
wheelsoffthecarthroughouttherace– asdid

rilliantEnglishco-driverDerek

Bell– to berunningthirdwhen

massivecrashat McPhillamy

arkblockedthetrack.Therace

asstoppedanddeclaredat

121 lapsinsteadof thefull163.Johnson,whose

Falconwasleakingoil,wasdeclaredthewinner

andBobMorrissecond,despitehisnewFalcon

beinga wreckin themiddleof thetrack.

Moffat,fuelledto theendandongrippynew

tyres,reckonshewouldhavewon.“MyMazda

wasin perfectcondition...andcouldhavewon

Bathurstondebut,”hewrote.“Instead,Derekand

I weregiventhird.It wasgutwrenching.”

Mazda,however,wasdelighted.Theyliterally

rolledouttheredcarpet,asPRmanJohn

Crokerexplains:“OntheTuesdaywewereback

in MelbourneandAllanwascomingin to see

Baxterto givehima debrief,soI founda littleroll

of redcarpetfromsomewhereandorganisedall

thestaffto bedownin thereceptionareaof the

building.Weopenedthedoorandhestepped

in,thensteppedbackagain– hewasa bit

stunned!Hesaidin allhisyearswithFordthey

neverdidanythinglikethatforhim.”

Moffatdidn’thaveto waitlongfora maiden

victory,andthistimehewasthankfulfor

officialdom.Brockhadcrossedthelinerstin the

SurfersParadise300,

57.5secondsahead

of theMazda,buta

one-minutepenaltyfor

a pushstartin pitlane

sawMoffatdeclaredthe

winner.It wastheend

of a controversialrst

season,butthatwas

justa tasteof things

to come.

1981 Sandown debut

1981 Surfers Paradise fi rst win

First pics of Moffat’s RX7 (top left) as part of Mazda’s

press release, with the team being offi cially launched

in a lavish ceremony in Melbourne (above). Moffat

believes he could have won at Bathurst in 1981 had the

race not been red fl agged (centre).